Louis Smith has defended the cheeky snap he posted of his girlfriend Lucy Mecklenburgh's bum and said he could stare at it for the rest of his life

Louis Smith could stare at Lucy Mecklenburgh's bum for the rest of his life.

The Olympic gymnast has confessed that he is obsessed with his former 'The Only Way Is Essex' star girlfriend's body and defended posting a semi-naked picture of them both showing off their bums last month.

He said: "I prefer Lucy's bum to mine, obviously. If I had to stare at her bum or my bum for the rest of my life, it would be hers!"

The 26-year-old hunk - who met Lucy on the BBC show 'Tumble' - got in trouble with his girlfriend of six months when she found out he'd posted the cheeky snap on his Instagram account alongside the caption, 'Who has the better derriere?"

Explaining himself in an interview with new! magazine, Louis said: "I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and she had just finished. I was looking at her bum in the mirror and I said, 'Let's have a compare off', and I took a picture. The next day I said I was going to post it and she was like, 'You'd better not!' But it was too late."

Proud Louis wasn't in trouble for too long and gushed that the perky pair are still in the honeymoon stage of their relationship.

The former 'Strictly Come Dancing' champion added: "She's so relaxed. I've only been in one other serious relationship and it was completely different ... There isn't any doubt of jealousy. She's just a lovely girl with lovely morals.